Knight Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE Euronext: KCG) and Equiduct Systems Ltd., today announced that Knight has agreed to make a strategic investment in Equiduct, the pan-European equities trading platform. Knight's Kee-Meng Tan, Managing Director and Head of the Electronic Trading Group in Europe, will join the Equiduct board. Terms of the investment, which remains subject to approval by Equiduct's shareholders, were not disclosed.
"Knight is partnering with Equiduct and Citadel Securities to help level the playing field for retail investors in Europe," Mr. Tan said. "Retail investors have very few resources available to address challenges in the marketplace - fragmentation in European markets, the absence of a consolidated tape and limited price discovery. The Equiduct model, powered by cutting-edge technology, gives broker-dealers the ability to provide high-quality execution to their end clients at the best price."
"We welcome this important strategic investment by Knight, which demonstrates our commitment to making Equiduct a leading European trading platform," said Peter Randall, Chief Executive Officer of Equiduct. "Together with Knight and Citadel Securities, we will enhance our fast, cost-effective, all-in-one solution for retail broker-dealers."
Equiduct has created PartnerEx (BEST), an innovative market model that aggregates pricing data and gives broker-dealers the ability to satisfy their best execution pricing obligations for retail clients trading in equities. Both Knight and Citadel Securities act as market makers on PartnerEx. Equiduct also operates a traditional order book (BOOK) that includes executable two way quotes for over 1,100 leading European names. Knight and Citadel Securities are active participants in this segment.
Equiduct is majority owned by Citadel Securities. As part of the transaction, Borse Berlin AG will maintain their current shareholding in Equiduct and continue to provide the platform with regulated market infrastructure and supervision.
"We are very pleased that Knight has joined our strategic partnership with Borse Berlin AG," said Matteo Cassina, President of Citadel European Execution Services, a division of Citadel Securities. "Knight and Citadel have a history of successful collaboration in emerging trading platforms. We look forward to working together in the European market and expanding Equiduct's capabilities."
The transaction is expected to close by the end of June 2010.
